COMPASSION AND EVANGELISM

 

 

Most want to be regarded as compassionate. Demonstrating compassion is to win friends, allies, and even votes. It is also a significant foundation stone of our identity. We have a moral nature, which requires us to see ourselves as good and worthy. Those we admire must also be compassionate. Even our God should be the model of compassion. Jesus was drawn to those who would benefit from His compassion:

 

·       And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35–38 (ESV)

 

To be sheep without a shepherd is to be vulnerable. Jesus had been moved by what He saw in these sheep and asked His disciples to pray that shepherds would be sent out to guide them into green pastures (Psalm 23), where they could find peace, protection, and nourishment.

 

For Jesus, the most compassionate thing was to preach the Gospel. Jesus had spent the night on top of a mountain to pray. His disciples finally found Him and instructed Him to return to the village where many were waiting upon Him to heal them. What could be any more important than that, right? Instead, Jesus answered them:

 

·       “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. (Mark 1:38–39)

 

Preaching the Good News had been Jesus’ calling and His greatest expression of compassion. Therefore, before His ascension, He instructed His disciples:

 

·       “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19–20)

 

No mention here about other things associated with compassion – healings, positive affirmations, and glowing messages. Instead, Jesus would utter words that seemed to contradict compassion. He excoriated the religious leadership:

·       “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:13–15)

 

However, these harsh words were exactly what they needed to hear. Their hearts were hardened, and they needed a sharp a wakeup call. Jesus concluded this encounter by expressing His heart’s desire:

·       “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37)

 

If we are really concerned about others, we will tell them what they most need to know – They are sinners who need the Savior. If they refuse to turn from the darkness of lies and denial, they are also choosing eternal darkness (John 3:18-20).

 

Today, we observe a narrowing of evangelism into friendship evangelism. For example, one NYC pastor had stated, “God has made relationships His chosen delivery system for the gospel of hope.” https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/evangelism?page=7

 

However, Jesus never instructed us to go make friends but disciples. Nor did any of the Apostles speak this way. When Paul went to a town where there was a synagogue, he sought to preach, not to make friends. He did not invite people to church barbeques to show them that he enjoyed the same things as others did. Instead, he never camouflaged his intentions:

 

·       No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (2 Timothy 2:4)

 

No one was ever confused about the motives of Jesus and His Apostles. Compassion for them was, without apology or subterfuge, to be a soldier for God.

I am not writing to tell you to break off your relationships but to be perfectly transparent about your mission:

 

·       For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:17 (ESV)

 

We must maintain the moral high ground of sincerity and compassion regarding the eternal destiny of the lost. Otherwise, they will influence us more than we them. I have found that when I keep my motives hidden, I am misrepresenting myself to the detriment of all parties, even to myself.